Ever since humans became humans, individuals have had a desire to keep certain things to themselves. People have always had things they’d rather others didn’t know about, whether it be private thoughts and opinions, physical characteristics, or desires and fears.
It is only in the last few hundred years that any government or society has recognized an individual’s right to privacy—or even questioned whether such a right actually exists. The concept of privacy is unique to Western European, and more specifically, Anglo-Saxon cultures. Many languages do not even have a specific word for ‘privacy.’
Privacy is broadly defined as the ability of an individual to control personal things unique to that individual—how they are obtained, and how they are used. Examples of private things would include your physical body, private thoughts, personal photos and videos, mail and other correspondence, phone conversations, financial information, purchase histories, religious and spiritual affiliations, political views, medical records, and even your address, phone number, and age.
The Battle Between Privacy and Security
Is privacy really that important? Absolutely, at least to a degree. Private information has, and is regularly used to persecute, intimidate, and harass people all the time—by the government, organizations, lawyers, bill collectors, salespeople, companies, ex-spouses, ex-lovers, and even ex-friends. One of the most recent examples was the IRS targeting of certain Political Action Groups critical of the current administration by using audits, threats, and denial or delays of 401(c) status in a blatant effort to silence them. Pedophiles have used Facebook information to target their next victims. People have been located and murdered by others who found their whereabouts using information gained from internet sources. In any supposedly free society, privacy is a major concern. It is one of the defining characteristics of being free.
There is a constant battle between security and privacy. The Patriot Act circumvented many of our privacy laws and made them nearly moot, all in the name of national security. Now, 70-year-old grandmothers are having their library records scrutinized by the government in case they might be terrorists—so think about that the next time you want to check out a copy of Mein Kampf for a school report or private research. Big Brother is probably watching… The U.S. government even has a computer program called Carnivore (at least that was the last one anyone knew about…), that mines the internet, cell phones, emails, and who knows what else, looking for any keywords programmed into it, and stores the data permanently. Since it is classified, no one outside the government knows what keywords are used and what information is retrieved. The people who may know are the same ones that built a room at AT&T headquarters to house data collection equipment to eavesdrop on all of your phone calls.
There is actually an even more sinister issue with privacy. With the advent of the internet, your private data is, in theory, accessible to anyone who can get it. And there are no laws prohibiting it. In this supposedly “land of the free,” where a person could go to federal prison for opening someone else’s mail, any individual or company can download all of your emails, phone records, financial information, medical records, etc., all without fear of prosecution. If anyone can get it, they consider it fair game. And not only your information, but they can also download your contacts and friends lists, gaining access to their information as well. This data is then sold for huge profits to third-party companies who use it to send targeted sales ads, do background checks, or track financial habits to decide who to hire, and more. A recent 2013 report found that 70% of unsuccessful job applicants were rejected because of information gained from the internet, mostly from Facebook, Google+, Twitter, and MySpace. Over 60% of companies now pre-screen job applicants using the internet. So, that last post you made on Facebook complaining about Walmart could cost you a job in the future…
But it doesn’t stop there. Companies aren’t satisfied with just what they can get from social media. They want it all. With enough information, they can determine your sexual orientation, spending habits, drug use, medical issues, race, sex, and more. One of their favorite tools is to dangle a carrot in the form of free apps and games through places like the Google and Apple stores, blowout.com, CNET, downloads.com, photobucket.com, and others…
This is a warning: Don’t give away your privacy for a free app or game. Here’s why:
That app may seem cool, but there are things attached to it called Terms of Service and the Privacy Statement. Almost no one ever reads these, assuming they all say the same thing. Well, they do, and here’s what they say: You agree to allow them to have complete and full access to your email, text messages, contacts, social networking pages, search engine history, cookies, anything else they can get. You also allow them to edit or delete information as they see fit, and sell it to anyone they want, without further permission from you. You’re essentially trading your life history for a free game or application. By law, they are required to offer an opt-out process, assuming you even read the terms and conditions, but it is usually so complicated and tortuous that most people don’t bother. So, now you know where all that spam and all the pop-up ads come from. And, it goes without saying that the app will certainly place a tracking cookie on your hard drive. Some cookies can be removed, but others are more insidious. In some cases, the only way to be sure they are gone is to reformat your hard drive completely. Many (if not most) free apps are bundled with other software, such as Trojans, Keyloggers, Rootkits, Bootkits, Back Doors, and Password Stealers, that record your information and constantly upload it to another party without your permission or knowledge. I can’t even begin to list all the ways this information can be used against you. Just take my word for it… it’s bad.
I can’t stress how dangerous this could be. Most sites only require that you state you are at least 13 years of age, but have no way to verify this. Your children could be giving away personal information that could end up with perverts, pedophiles, and who knows where else. These companies do not know or care who they’re sending this information to. All they care about is making money. Anyone can create any kind of identity on the net and pose as a business or charitable organization to get information from Google, Photobucket, the App Stores, or wherever. This information has been used to locate people under protection orders, by insurance companies to deny services, to get financial account numbers, and more. If you’re lucky, all it will be used for is annoying targeted advertising and telemarketer calls on your cell phone. And that’s the best-case scenario.
Even worse, companies like Google and Facebook are safe from prosecution because, thanks to the wisdom (or lack thereof) of our illustrious elected officials—who are consistently 10-30 years behind all technical and social curves—this is not illegal. They have little concern about civil lawsuits. The few that have made it to court have, for the most part, been dismally unsuccessful. They are gambling—and rightly so—that the majority of people do not have the time, money, or resources to have any chance of winning a lawsuit against a multi-million-dollar international corporation with hundreds of lawyers on retainer, whose only function is to slap you down hard to discourage future lawsuits.
I hope this article serves as a wake-up call. Don’t trade your privacy for a free game or app. It’s not worth it…
